Such was the case Monday against Stanford. UConn’s offense wasn’t functioning with its usual efficiency. Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Bria Hartley were making shots, but their teammates were clanging them from all directions for the first 25 minutes, 27 seconds.

No one but Mosqueda-Lewis and Hartley even made a shot. But still, UConn not only had life, it won by 10.

“The key is, how do you beat a really good team when those [shots] don’t go in?” Auriemma said. “And that’s what we did. We didn’t win because we made every shot. It’s easy to do that. I think you feel better when you win games when shots don’t go in.”

UConn prevailed because its defense was superior, its effort outstanding and its rebounding competitive. And dominating three out of the four major game groups usually leads to good things.

“We talked about that afterwards in the locker room. It was a win for us and I don’t mean on the scoreboard,’’ Auriemma said. “Even if we had not won the game on the scoreboard, I think it was a win in a lot of ways because we won at a lot of the things that I wanted us to win at.

“We out-rebounded them by one. I think the way we competed [was great]. We probably tipped more passes than we had at any time since practice started. So a lot of the things that we’ve been stressing we accomplished (Monday). To also be able to win is a huge accomplishment for this group because I’m sure there was a lot of uncertainty on their part.”

Now No. 2 in both polls, the Huskies (3-0) almost certainly will glide this weekend at the World Vision Classic at Gampel Pavilion.

The field includes Fairleigh Dickinson, Buffalo and Dayton, as eclectic a field as you will find on the holiday tournament terrain.

The three-day tournament features daily doubleheaders beginning Friday at 5 when Buffalo plays Dayton. The Huskies take on FDU at 7:30 p.m.

On Saturday, FDU plays Dayton at 5 followed by UConn and Buffalo at 7:30 p.m.

And finally on Sunday, the Buffalo plays ODU at 2 before UConn ends things against Dayton at 4:30 p.m. The Flyers are coached by Jim Jabir, the former coach at Providence (1996-2002).

Once through the weekend, the Huskies will be 10 days from their next battle, against Texas A&M, the reigning national champion, Dec. 6 at the XL Center. There will be one additional tune-up against Towsonon Nov. 30 in Hartford.

It is Auriemma’s hope that his young players – three freshmen, four sophomores – use this time to grow comfortable in the new roles they will play without Maya Moore around.

Ironically, Moore watched that process in person Monday while shadowing Rebecca Lobo on the set of ESPNU. And she was asked about sophomore center Stafanie Dolson’s progression.

“She’s such a big presence for us down low,’’ Moore said. “Last year, she was huge as well, just being an offensive threat and being consistent. I think she’s going to have to be one of the more consistent players for the team as the starting center.

“I have all the confidence in the world that she’s going to do that. So it’s an exciting time for her. All of our freshmen didn’t really get much of a chance to kind of just sit back last season. They kind of had to be thrown into the fire. So I think it’s going to pay off for them in this season as well. So I’m excited to see how she’s grown, as well as all the other underclassmen.”

Along with playing hard against Stanford, the Huskies played with poise, turning the ball over just seven times - not once in the final five minutes. This made Auriemma smile.

“We’ve been throwing the ball all over the place in practice,’’ he said. “I thought that we were much more cohesive and played well together [against Stanford]. There were times when it didn’t look so great; we dribbled ourselves into trouble, didn’t kick it out in time, didn’t find open receivers. But I thought for the most part the shots we got were pretty decent shots.

“I don’t think we took any really difficult shots. But obviously, we’ve got a lot of work to do. If we’re still like this two months from now, that’s not a good sign. We missed a lot of shots that I would like to think we’re going to make in the future.

“Stanford missed a lot of shots that they’re going to make in the future. But for this point in time, November 21, I think it was pretty good for both teams.’’